Demolish the Verbal Monolith

I'd like to briefly rehash an old argument about terminology and Chinese brands here. 

For over a decade, Chinese lolita brands have been treated by the English-speaking lolita community as a single entity, euphemistically called "Taobao" in reference to the primary sales platform from which they are purchased. This term, "Taobao", has been used in sales, outfit rundowns, and discussions; it's used as shorthand for cheaply-made, under-designed, mass-produced garments. There have already been great posts from both Raine Dragon and Cupcake Kamisama on why this labeling is unfair both to the brands and to lolitas who label them this way, so I won't reword those arguments. Instead, I'd like to present my own opinion: saying "Taobao" for Chinese lolita brands makes the speaker sound like a loser. 

Let's turn back the clock for reference -- 20 years, to be exact. Back in 2005, when Amazon was basically a book store and the sound of the dot com bubble bursting still echoed through the web, people didn't just buy things online: they engaged in e-commerce, if they were tech savvy. On the other hand, if someone was a little less online, perhaps from an older generation, the precise terminology of online purchases might be a little difficult, so they might phrase things awkwardly, saying something like "I bought it from the Internet" or "I got it from the eBay", using clumsy phrasing and inappropriate definite articles in a way that expresses their cluelessness. This is very similar to how people sound referring to all the many brands and artisans in China as "Taobao". It's a large platform, after all, and flattening all Chinese brands based on the platform they use just sounds pathetically uninformed and dated.

Basically, referring to "Taobao" instead of the actual brand makes people sound like clueless boomers. 

Luckily, this appearance of ignorance can easily be solved in about five seconds, if people are willing to take criticism about the terminology they use. Unluckily, some people just double down, even when they should know better. Now, I'm no fan of unsolicited style criticism -- matters of taste are a matter of taste, after all. But people need to be open to criticism about the words they choose to speak and the harm those words can do. This applies to a variety of things, including technical terms, gender, and, of course race. Choosing to be accurate about Chinese brand names seems minor, but it indicates a lot about respect and openness to ideas.

Even if the arguments about quality, or sinophobic racism, or respect for artists-- if those don't touch someone's heart, then there's only one thing left: 

If you still call all those brands "Taobao" instead of Chinese brands or, yanno, the actual brand name, you sound like a dipshit.